If you are stepping into the IT industry, make one thing clear that adding new skills by getting training and validating them through certifications is a great way to move ahead at a faster pace in career.
CCIE certifications and training do the same with professionals who are willing to grow in their field and get a hike in position along with salary. The certification will help you get the title of expert in your field.
You will get an overview of CCIE certifications and training in the further sections.
Cisco and its Certifications
The name “Cisco” is well sufficient to explain the power in the IT industry. Cisco products are worldwide known and desired by big organizations for their network and security services.
Cisco products are used by all levels of companies, starting from start-up to well-established brands, hence they need professionals to manage and maintain the products.
Therefore, Cisco offers some certifications to validate the skills of individuals for the convenience of employees and employers.
In the same trail, the company offers certifications at different levels, they are:-
● Entry level certification
● Associate level certification
● Professional level certification
● Expert level certification
● Architecture
CCIE as a supreme in Cisco Certifications
CCIE certifications fall under the expert level certifications of Cisco. The term CCIE stands for Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. However the very last stage is still the Architecture level certification, but being a CCIE certified will also be a step closer to that.
The certification will validate the expert-level ability to design, maintain, manage, implement and troubleshoot the network and security related products by Cisco.
This certification can help you get a remarkable hike on salary package by providing a certificate of validating skills required to become an expert in the field.
Point to note, one can get the CCIE certification in different domains as offered by Cisco. The domains are mentioned in the below section.
Different domains of CCIE certification
A willing candidate can choose from the 6 different domains offered in CCIE certification:-
1. CCIE Data Center: the certification that focuses on the data center and IT infrastructure including network design, implementation, optimizing and troubleshooting etc.
2. CCIE Collaboration: this will validate the skills of maintaining, deploying and troubleshooting the complex collaboration networks.
3. CCIE Security: under this certification, the ability to secure the networks and storage will be validated. This certification is for those candidates who are interested in network security and firewall products.
4. CCIE Wireless: the candidates will be tested and certified for the skills of dealing with wireless and WLAN technologies.
5. CCIE Routing & Switching: Implementation, installation, troubleshooting of routers and switches.
6. CCIE Service Provider: provides the validity to the expert level engineering ability in dealing with service provider infrastructure.
CCIE Training and Courses for Certification
The training and courses for CCIE certification play a crucial role in delivering the in-depth knowledge of the certification objectives.
There are institutes that provide workbooks, recorded videos, live sessions (offline and online), virtual labs and study materials for better understanding. Virtual labs are an important part when you are preparing for any certifications, the labs allow you to polish your skills in the real-time project like environment.
The courses and training are certifications aimed, this means that, for every certification domain, the institutes provide different batches and study materials. The candidates are recommended to choose wisely the stream they want to go to.
Benefits offered by Cisco to CCIE certified personnel
The hard work, time and money that will be invested during the whole process of examination will come up as a fruit in form of some perks offered by Cisco.
Although the Cisco Expert Certification is way sufficient to prove the credibility of an individual Cisco appreciates the dedication of hard work with the following perks.
1. Certification kit
2. Dedicated case routing
3. Discounted merchandise
4. CCIE/CCDE emeritus
Know about them in brief here:-
1. Certification kit: the kit will be sent to the registered address of a qualified candidate within the 6 to 8 weeks of qualifying for the examination.
The kit will contain:
- Letter of Congratulations from Chunk Robbins
- Achievement certificate
- CCIE sticker set
- CCIE badge pull
- Certification resources document
- Personalized CCIE plaque
2. Dedicated case routing: the advantage in Technical Service Requests is another major perk that will be provided to CCIE certified individuals. This perk says that if a CCIE certified personnel approaches the support team of Cisco for any technical query, he/she will be redirected to highly experienced and more skilled professionals for better solutions and results.
3. Discounted merchandise: stuff that can be shopped in Cisco market place. The certified personnel can get the personalized stuff with their name and CCIE certified number on it.
4. CCIE/CCDE emeritus: the title of CCIE certified isn’t that easy to obtain, but once it is obtained, it becomes even crucial to maintain it. Cisco has made some changes in Emeritus policies for providing a better experience on it. If an individual manages to maintain the Emeritus status for 20 consecutive years, he/she will be designated with Lifetime Emeritus benefits.
Who should Opt for CCIE Training and Certification
The very first thing to keep in mind is that it is an Expert level certification, hence it requires some hands-on experience and clear concepts even before enrolling to its preparation for a smooth journey.
However, CCIE training and certification can be gained by anyone who has a high school diploma but, to crack the level of this exam, the candidate must have prior knowledge and interest in the same field.
Moving on, an individual who is already in the network and security field can also opt for the CCIE training and certification for growth and promotions in career.
While talking about the job profiles, who should go for this certification or would be beneficial for them, are:-
● Network Engineers
● Network Security Engineers
● IT Consultants
● Network Architect
● Senior Network Engineers
● Network Specialist
These are some of the job roles which can be benefited from the training and skills. However, this is a generalized list of jobs, there are more job roles depending upon the domains of the CCIE certification examination.
Prerequisites for CCIE certification and CCIE training
● CCIE certification: there is no formal prerequisite required to appear in the examination for CCIE certification. However, the candidate is recommended to have a good command of deploying, designing, implementing etc in the relevant domain, along with seven years of minimum experience.
● CCIE training courses: same as the certification exam, usually CCIE training courses do not have any prerequisites. Although, it may vary from the institute to institute depending upon the strategy followed by the particular institutes. However, having a basic knowledge of core concepts related to the domains would be entertained.
That is to say, there is no prerequisite for the CCIE certification and training, but having a basic knowledge with some industry experience would be recommended to candidates.